I know, I know... Swedish 1970/1980s hockey player. Unlikely that any of you have heard of him. He was one of the first European players in the NHL, playing 16 or 17 years for Toronto. When he went to the US everyone wanted to show that Europeans couldn't deal with the toughness of the league but he certainly did.
Anyway, he died from ALS (or MND as I think you often call it over there). What a truly f***ing horrible disease it is:
a year ago he was perfectly fine, probably the fittest 70-year-old man around, still frequently participating in show-games etc.
Then a few months later, in the beginning of this year, he started to feel a weakness in his arms. He still participated in some documentary about himself and his family story (his father was killed in some Swedish mine due to poor work conditions). In June or July he was still pretty ok when he got the result from the doctors: he had ALS.
Two months later, his family announced he can no longer speak and that his ALS was progressing twice as fast as it usually does.
Two weeks ago, he went to Toronto (despite his doctors saying it was a bit risky) to say farewall to the Toronto fans:
Just last week he also said farewell to the Swedish hockey fans.
And now the bloke is dead. Such a hideous, hideous disease, one of the few ones where I'm actually angry at its existence... so rest in peace Börje Salming and hopefully there will be a cure for this nightmare some day so that not more families and people have to go through this.
Anyway, he died from ALS (or MND as I think you often call it over there). What a truly f***ing horrible disease it is:
a year ago he was perfectly fine, probably the fittest 70-year-old man around, still frequently participating in show-games etc.
Then a few months later, in the beginning of this year, he started to feel a weakness in his arms. He still participated in some documentary about himself and his family story (his father was killed in some Swedish mine due to poor work conditions). In June or July he was still pretty ok when he got the result from the doctors: he had ALS.
Two months later, his family announced he can no longer speak and that his ALS was progressing twice as fast as it usually does.
Two weeks ago, he went to Toronto (despite his doctors saying it was a bit risky) to say farewall to the Toronto fans:
Just last week he also said farewell to the Swedish hockey fans.
And now the bloke is dead. Such a hideous, hideous disease, one of the few ones where I'm actually angry at its existence... so rest in peace Börje Salming and hopefully there will be a cure for this nightmare some day so that not more families and people have to go through this.
